Galatians 3–4

3RD CHAPTER

God Approves of Those Who Believe

¹You stupid people of Galatia! Who put you under an evil spell? Wasn’t Christ Jesus’ crucifixion clearly described to you? ²I want to learn only one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by your own efforts to follow the laws in the Scriptures or by believing what you heard? ³Are you that stupid? Did you begin in a spiritual way only to end up doing things in a human way? ⁴Did you suffer so much for nothing? ⸤I doubt⸥ that it was for nothing! ⁵Does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you through your own efforts or through believing what you heard? 

⁶Abraham serves as an example. He believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God. ⁷You must understand that people who have faith are Abraham’s descendants. ⁸Scripture saw ahead of time that God would give his approval to non-Jewish people who have faith. So Scripture announced the Good News to Abraham ahead of time when it said, “Through you all the people of the world will be blessed.” ⁹So people who believe are blessed together with Abraham, the man of faith. 

¹⁰Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts because Scripture says, “Whoever doesn’t obey everything that is written in Moses’ Teachings is cursed.” ¹¹No one receives God’s approval by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings since, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.” ¹²These laws have nothing to do with faith, but, “Whoever obeys laws will live because he obeys them.” 

¹³Christ paid the price to free us from the curse that the laws in Moses’ Teachings bring by becoming cursed instead of us. Scripture says, “Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed.” ¹⁴⸤Christ paid the price⸥ so that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to all the people of the world through Jesus Christ and we would receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

The Relationship between Law and Promise

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, let me use an example from everyday life. No one can cancel a person’s will or add conditions to it once that will is put into effect. ¹⁶The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture doesn’t say, “descendants,” referring to many, but “your descendant,” referring to one. That descendant is Christ. ¹⁷This is what I mean: The laws ⸤given to Moses⸥ 430 years after God had already put his promise ⸤to Abraham⸥ into effect didn’t cancel the promise ⸤to Abraham⸥. ¹⁸If we have to gain the inheritance by following those laws, then it no longer comes to us because of the promise. However, God freely gave the inheritance to Abraham through a promise. 

¹⁹What, then, is the purpose of the laws given to Moses? They were added to identify what wrongdoing is. Moses’ laws did this until the descendant to whom the promise was given came.^aIt was put into effect through angels, using a mediator. ²⁰A mediator is not used when there is only one person involved, and God has acted on his own. 

²¹Does this mean, then, that the laws given to Moses contradict God’s promises? That’s unthinkable! If those laws could give us life, then certainly we would receive God’s approval because we obeyed them. ²²But Scripture states that the whole world is controlled by the power of sin. Therefore, a promise based on faith in Jesus Christ could be given to those who believe. 

²³We were kept under control by Moses’ laws until this faith came. We were under their control until this faith which was about to come would be revealed. 

²⁴Before Christ came, Moses’ laws served as our guardian. Christ came so that we could receive God’s approval by faith. ²⁵But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the control of a guardian. ²⁶You are all God’s children by believing in Christ Jesus. ²⁷Clearly, all of you who were baptized in Christ’s name have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There are neither Jews nor Greeks, slaves nor free people, males nor females. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. ²⁹If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs, as God promised. 

4TH CHAPTER

You Are God’s Children

¹Let me explain further. As long as an heir is a child, he is no better off than a slave, even though he owns everything. ²He is placed under the control of guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. ³It was the same way with us. When we were children, we were slaves to the principles of this world. ⁴But when the right time came, God sent his Son ⸤into the world⸥. A woman gave birth to him, and he came under the control of the laws given to Moses. ⁵God sent him to pay for the freedom of those who were controlled by these laws so that we would be adopted as his children. ⁶Because you are God’s children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into us to call out, “Abba!^aFather!” ⁷So you are no longer slaves but God’s children. Since you are God’s children, God has also made you heirs. 

⁸When you didn’t know God, you were slaves to things which are really not gods at all. ⁹But now you know God, or rather, God knows you. So how can you turn back again to the powerless and bankrupt principles of this world? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again? ¹⁰You religiously observe days, months, seasons, and years! ¹¹I’m afraid for you. Maybe the hard work I spent on you has been wasted. 

What Happened to Your Positive Attitude?

¹²Brothers and sisters, I beg you to become like me. After all, I became like you were. 

You didn’t do anything wrong to me. ¹³You know that the first time I brought you the Good News I was ill. ¹⁴Even though my illness was difficult for you, you didn’t despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were God’s messenger^bor Christ Jesus himself. ¹⁵What happened to your positive attitude? It’s a fact that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Can it be that I have become your enemy for telling you the truth? 

¹⁷These people ⸤who distort the Good News⸥ are devoted to you, but not in a good way. They don’t want you to associate with me so that you will be devoted only to them. ¹⁸(Devotion to a good cause is always good, even when I’m not with you.) 

¹⁹My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until Christ is formed in you. ²⁰I wish I were with you right now so that I could change the tone of my voice. I’m completely puzzled by what you’ve done! 

You Are Children of the Promise

²¹Those who want to be controlled by Moses’ laws should tell me something. Are you really listening to what Moses’ Teachings say? ²²Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by a woman who was a slave and the other by a free woman. ²³Now, the son of the slave woman was conceived in a natural way, but the son of the free woman was conceived through a promise ⸤made to Abraham⸥. 

²⁴I’m going to use these historical events as an illustration. The women illustrate two arrangements.^cThe one woman, Hagar, is the arrangement made on Mount Sinai. Her children are born into slavery. ²⁵Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is like Jerusalem today because she and her children are slaves. ²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷Scripture says: 

“Rejoice, women who cannot get pregnant, 

who cannot give birth to any children! 

Break into shouting, those who feel no pains of childbirth! 

Because the deserted woman will have more children 

than the woman who has a husband.” 

²⁸Now you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac. 

²⁹Furthermore, at that time the son who was conceived in a natural way persecuted the son conceived in a spiritual way. That’s exactly what’s happening now. ³⁰But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, because the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.” ³¹Brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman but of the free woman.